Night Dreamer Shorter

Ancient Wars
In a week it will once again be Remembrance Day, November 11th, 11:00am. For two short minutes we will be asked to put down our tools and pay a silent homage to those who fought for our freedoms. Most of us do not remember the sacrifices our fathers and their father made and how brave they must have been. I know my father joined at the age of 17 and spent 2 years as a tail gunner on a RAF Lancaster. I also know that all but one of my uncles served in various services and that 2 remained in Europe forever. My grandfathers both served in the 1st World War and my mother’s father lost 2 of his brothers at Vimy Ridge. My own father served for 25 years in the Canadian Air Force and for 4 long years worked as a bomb disposal expert on the Maginot Line. In many ways he never came back from the war.

To put it in perspective, over 15 million people were either killed in the 1st war and over 62 million died in the 2nd war. Germany lost over 10 percent of its entire population, Poland over 16 percent and Russia over 13 percent . In Vietnam, 58,000 US Soldier, 552 Australians, 1,000 ROK and 1.3 million North & South Vietnam soldiers were killed. Another 2 to 4 million civilians were also killed.

To remember my father, grandfathers and all those others who fought so bravely I have assembled a large collection of music that commemorates Ancient wars, the world wars, Vietnam and the future wars. This is not done to glorify war but to remember the brave men and women who stand watch each and every day so we can be free.

I have also included John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” and some of the history behind how the poppy became the symbol of remembrance, along with one other poem.

When Joni Mitchell was finally coerced by her label into releasing a greatest hits compilation (1996's Hits), she did so only under the condition that she could also release a companion album of her favorite tracks that didn't receive such wide acclaim. That album, Misses, was released on the same day and, in addition to acting as a sort of alternate-universe representation of Mitchell's best work, it also gave the world a chance to get a glimpse at how she views her own creative output. This is, after all, the same person who—whenever possible—took the opportunity to call out the craven lack of imagination of the folks that run the music business ("You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio," "Free Man in Paris," "Shiny Toys"), so it's unsurprising that she and those very same suits don't see eye to eye on how best to curate and contextualize her work.

Beginning with the lyrical image of cherry blossoms falling at five centimeters a second, Makoto Shinkai paints a breathtakingly vivid tableau of young love, desire, loss, and hope. Told in three breathtaking chapters, we follow the young dreamer Takaki through his life as cruel winters, cold technology, silence, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to crush the delicate petals of true love. Finding beauty in everyday objects and moments, Shinkai reveals he is a master of animation and haunting, beautiful storytelling. Fall in love with this gorgeous, thoughtful film, hailed by critics and audiences alike for its beauty, truth, and innovation in animation.